Atheism and Profanity

The use of profanity, being atheist or religious alike, has always been seen as impolite.

Yet, a study seems to have shown that the use of profanity lowers stress and boosts morale. (If God should exist then he has a twisted sense of humour, doesn't he?) So yes, I profess to profanity and I am certain that I am not alone.

So here is my question on this. Assuming you just stubbed your little toe on the bed with unsettling force;

Do you use profanity and, if you use it, how do you use it? Do you reference God in it or do you stay clear of blasphemy?

For example, a very Christian lieutenant I once knew wouldn't swear but he'd freely call out Gordon Bennet's name every time he stubbed his toe.

An atheist I heard speaking on the radio said not to use profanity involving god references just because they do not believe in god.

I try to be creative but old habits are hard to beat and I will occasionally use the good old OMG! or JMFC! still.

Replies to This Discussion

I had this SUPER Christian boss this one time, and instead of saying Son of a Bitch, he would always say Son of a sailor. I thought that was pretty fucking funny! I too say OMG and JFHC a lot old habits die hard.

I've heard "son of a biscuit eater" and "son of a monkey". I even knew atheists who used the latter around their children... and I picked up the habit from them. My brother made up "son of a badger pup"

And of course in the movie Johnny Dangerously there were words like Bastich and Samnibatch.

Funny. Dad, who is now elderly, resisted saying profanities. If he hit his finger while driving a nail or stubbed his toe he'd say "Son of a pup!" I was thinking that the only time I heard him drop the f-bomb was recently when he was wading through a deep telephone menu system, was kept on hold for a half hour, and then was dropped. An old man with gout and arthritis and he wastes a half of an hour with a phone to his ear.

Absolute fan of potty 'mouthness' when one stubbs ones toe efity efity ef ef my efin toe then I laugh, works a treat don't take my word for it , try it next time you hurt something on your person!

Usually makes those around me laugh as well , maybe that's where the lowering stress boosting moral part fits in lol .

Of course there's appropriate time and place for profanity and injured body parts are one of those times for me!

Maybe because I'm Australian and we are so laid back but i've never had a bad reaction to using profanities in context.

I have however had reactions to using the big for G's sake when apparently it's inappropriate, I inherited the term from religious parents never believed in it myself a single day in my life so it's neither here nor there to me I liken it to saying for Unicorns sake , to me God nor Unicorns can object so until they do i shall say it if i like .....

My spoken profanity is pretty much confined to blurting out obscenities when I am all alone. I call it my “controlled Tourette’s,” and I have no idea why I do it. I occasionally use mild profanity in writing, but I consider audible, public expressions of it to be very rude and purile.

I do recall, back in 1960, saying “F&&k You! to a girl friend. I didn’t mean it literally, but I recall that I did make my point.